Monday, January 21, 2013

One of my favs,very good served with some pickles or grilled/fried peppers or cucumbers dipped in vinegar and garlic sauce .
Ingredients

potatoes - this will decide how good the food will be,you need a type of potato that is good for boiling

tomato sauce

smoked pork (tail,ribs,foot)

salt

pepper

thyme

hot pepper powder

tarragon

sun flower oil

dried dill

2-3 bay leaves

garlic

In a pan fry the small dice onions in some oil,add the meat, fry it a bit and add the tomato sauce let it thicken a bit.In a pot boil the potatoes until soft,then add the fry,bay leaves,pepper,salt,chilly powder ,let it boil until most of rhe liquid evaporates and add chopped garlic and the rest of the seasoning.Serve hot.
Side dish:

Fried/grilled peppers in vinegar and garlic sauce
Ingredients:

garlic

salt

vinegar

oil

Fry/grill the peppers in oil (no oil for grilling) ,you can remove the skin if you want to ,chop and mash the garlic add salt and water and a a small amount of vinegar,throw the peppers in the garlic while hot.

I love this food,this is the reason i wait for the summer to arrive,because you need high quality tomatoes to make a good food.
Ingredients:

tomatoes

eggplants

chicken

parsley

peppers

salt

a sprinkle of sugar

rice

onions

I like to let you decide the quantities just remember the ratio should be 6 or 7 parts tomatoes and 4 or 3 parts peppers and eggplants.
Portion the chicken, cut eggplants and peppers in quarters,cut tomatoes in cubes,cut the onions scales,boil the rice until it flowers and leave it be.
Fry the chicken then get it out,fry eggplants and peppers get them out,fry the onions and add the tomatoes,leave them to boil a bit and add the chicken,eggplants ,sugar,salt,rice and peppers.leave it to boil until it thickens ,get off heat add parsley and you got a tasty food .Serve cold or hot.

Rice pudding is very easy,cheap and quick to make,you can eat it as a desert or meal.

Wash the rice then add water to cover and a bit of salt put on medium heat being careful it doesn't burn,add a bit of salt and boil 'till the rice "flowers",add the milk ,sugar,cinnamon and vanilla ,grate some lemon(only the yellow stuff the white stuff is bitter) skin and toss it in and boil until it thickens.,serve cold or hot.You can also add strawberries,raisins,cherries,almonds and all kinds of fruit.

Be careful if you have ulcer or high stomach acidity tho,use it diluted only and in small quantities or don't use it at all

Ingredients:

2 glass jars but one is fine too

wine-natural wine is preferred

water-you need water because bacteria may not be able to digest the alcohol if it's too strong,the more water you add the less strength the vinegar will have

Fill the jar with one part wine to 1 part water or two parts wine to one part water and leave in a dark warm place for at least 3 weeks,taste occasionally.You should see a veil like pelt forming ,that is the bacteria.When happy of the acidity move in to clean jar or bottle

Let it cure in salt for 2 weeks,then remove the salt,get a pot of water put the fat and the thyme , pepper and bay leaves,boil until simmer and let it cool in the broth,get it out and tub with the sweet and hot paprika.

Can be eaten plain with mustard and onions or added in different recipes like:beans and smoked pork,sarmale,grilled or any food that goes well with smoked meat.It can contain also strips of meat and seasoning.my smokehouse didn't wok very well this year and it's a bit white.

If you want to make some you'll need:

fat (belly,sides)

a smokehouse

salt

seasoning optional (thyme,tarragon,hot powdered pepper)

Take the fat and cover thoroughly with salt (lots) ,leave for 2 weeks then get the salt off and rub it with the seasoning, start the smokehouse and leave it for 3 days (depends on your smokehouse).

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

This is pretty good method for preservation.You can dry fish summer and winter as long as you give it enough salt.
What you need:

Fish

salt

cheesecloth (optional) for protecting it against bugs(summer)

Clean the fish and add salt LOTS AND LOTS,cover all inside and out give special attention to the head,hang it in somewhere outside to dry,you may cover it with a cheesecloth.If you want to eat 'em you need to put 'em in a pot of water to remove the salt then let them dry a bit or the bones won't be crunchy,grill or fry,i like them fried.

wine (optional),you'll have to figure out your quantities it isn't that hard

Put me meat in a pot add the salt,in another pot smash the garlic with some salt add water to barely cover the garlic,put the resulted mash on the meat,add thyme and a tsp of vinegar .Mix it all and massage the spices into the meat.Leave for at least 4 hours ,if it's cold outside and there are no bugs you can hang it as i did,get the fire started and don't cook it too much.This goes well with cold beer/ red wine and polenta.My camera's batteries played tricks on me so i'll add pics with the finished product another time.

This is my kingdom

What you have there is: smoked fat,back muscle boiled smoked and seasoned, boiled and seasoned fat,smoked pig tail , smoked sausages,dry salted fish , thyme (it was very successful last year) and below these you can't see my wine barrel.Usually most of this is made in the winter time because the meats won't go bad , you need stuff like this to keep you warm unlike summer when you'll go for lean cuts ,refreshing salads etc.Maybe the fat scares you but as i saId if you live in a cold place this will help,i don't recommend eating too much tho,try to keep a balanced diet.